Asylum seekers with unfounded fears would have right to release if Australia loses case, high court told

Solicitor general Stephen Donaghue has told the high court that asylum seekers would have a ‘constitutional right’ to be released from detention if the commonwealth loses a landmark case. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Asylum seekers would have a “constitutional right” to be released from immigration detention even if their fears are not well-founded, if the commonwealth loses a landmark case, the high court has been told.

The solicitor general, Stephen Donaghue, on Wednesday also warned the high court that ruling indefinite detention unlawful even where detainees refuse to cooperate in deportation would “turn the federal circuit court into the refugee tribunal”, requiring it to relitigate protection claims that had already been rejected.